Five Guys, Chipotle, Steak’n Shake or Carl’s Jr: American fast food chains are settling in France one after another. McDonald’s, until the early 2000s, reigned almost unopposed in France. The signs are now being pushed on the streets of city centers and in the alleys of shopping malls.
Louisiana brand Popeye’s, and its fried chicken burgers, is the latest to get a taste of adventure on our side of the Atlantic. Even the giant Wendy’s, a great rival to McDonald’s and Burger King on US soil, is eyeing French consumers.
France, a new fast food paradise? If the brands seem to crowd at the gates of France, it is because there are fewer of them there than in other places. Many are already established in neighboring countries, such as Spain or the United Kingdom.
In addition to a small reluctance towards fast food, it is also the hegemony of McDonald’s that slowed down, for a time, the development of the sector in France.
One of the most valuable assets of fast food, “is an unbeatable quality/quantity/price ratio” in the consumer’s mind, adds Clara Soppo Priso. “McDonald’s, for example, is perceived as a cheaper brand, although this is not necessarily the reality,” she adds. A strength well understood by these companies, which are increasing promotional campaigns around their leading loss-making products, the cheapest, although they are not necessarily the ones that sell the most -such as “small pleasures for less than 2 euros” or the “King Menu “offer” at 5 euros at Burger King.
Burgers and ice cream
With their hamburgers, French fries, chicken nuggets and other ice creams, fast food chains also opt for conventional and universal products, easy to consume and that can be eaten at any time of the day. Proof of this is the proliferation of “breakfast” menus or hot drinks, even dedicated spaces such as “McCafé”, which allow these restaurants to take advantage of their off-peak hours. This is the other pillar of their success: unparalleled agility that allows them to quickly adapt to new consumption patterns.
When the health crisis forced restaurants to close their doors, fast food quickly turned to click-and-collect and delivery, already familiar with the use of digital technology for order taking. Without scrimping entirely, the health crisis was ultimately profitable, allowing it to grab even more market share. “Attendance fell 15% in restaurants outside the home between 2019 and 2022. Fast food is only a 4% drop,” says Maria Bertoch, an expert from the firm NPD Group.
Nothing seems to stop the growth of fast food. Because, in addition to the big American chains, tricolor brands have also emerged (such as Big Fernand or Bagelstein), not to mention the current popularity of kebabs and tacos. According to figures from the NPD Group, fast food accounted for 34% of out-of-home catering traffic (which also includes sandwich shops, caterers and bakeries) in 2016, before rising to 36% in 2019 and then 41% in 2022. Enough to seduce brands still absent from French territory.
“There’s Still Room”
The traditional restoration, yes, does not see it with good eyes. But ce qui lui fait réellement du tort, “c’est la restauration rapide de qualité” plutôt que Burger King ou KFC, explica Nicolas El Hakim, à la tête de deux Lebanese restaurants à Paris et président des restaurateurs à l’Umih Île- from France. Between noon and 2, customers have less time to eat, not to mention they think the tab will be higher at a classic restaurant, even though it’s not, and “we don’t have the same marketing budget” to fix it, he says.
Other major brands could still establish themselves in French cities in the coming years, such as Wendy’s. “There’s still room,” but success “isn’t necessarily guaranteed” for all newcomers, says Clara Soppo Priso. It is not because the market is buoyant that the road will go smoothly. Popeye’s, for example, had suffered a first failure in the south of France a few years earlier, which had forced it to close its restaurants and abandon the French market.
Source: BFM TV
